"Small Island Big Song," an Austronesian music project co-initiated by a Taiwanese and an Australian, will embark on a global tour next year upon the release of their second album in January, the project announced Sunday.
The project, which features 15 artists from Austronesian and other indigenous cultures from 10 countries including Taiwan, will begin a 120-day tour around the world next January.
The project's roster of performers include Taiwanese Amis musician Putad Pihay, who is also the lead singer of the Golden Melody-winning Amis band, Outlet Drift (????).
Putad was involved in various songs in the upcoming album, including "Pinagsanga" (nature) and "Liswar Zanset" (Our Ancestors), which the singer lent her voice.
Pinagsanga was made with the collaboration of other indigenous and Austronesian artists, including Taiwanese Paiwan singer Sauljalui.
Due to COVID-19, the second album, which was originally intended to be produced collaboratively in Australia, was put together by the artists working online from their respective countries. The album, which has not been titled yet, will revolve around the theme of "voicing for the ocean."
The project is releasing songs from the album online ahead of their tour.
The album's latest single, "Liswar Zanset (Our Ancestors)," features a duet between Putad and Mauritian performer Sanza Emlyn.
In a press release on Sunday, the project said that "Liswar Zanset" features the retelling of the enslavement of Emlyn's ancestors in song. The musical number also honors the resilience of her forefathers, and celebrates their subsequent freedom.
Echoing Emlyn's music on oppression, the song also features Putad singing about the plight of the indigenous population when their lands were taken by colonizers.
Towards the end of the piece, climate warrior Selina Leem from the Marshall Islands performs a poetry reading in which she recites, "Their people displaced; their lands taken; my lands drowning."
About the upcoming tour, Putad said that she is very excited to perform around the world, as she will be bringing her family with her. "I can finally bring my son to the hometown of his idol, Michael Jackson," she said.
The tour has been in development for three years since the release of the project's first album in 2018, and would visit North America and Europe, performing at locations such as Broadway in New York, and Warner Grand Theatre in L.A.
The project will also hold concerts in university amphitheaters and concert halls across the United States, in schools such as Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Miami Dade College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dartmouth College.
While touring college campuses, artists of the project will also give guest lectures, symposiums, workshops and screenings of the documentaries that chronicled the making of the "Small Island Big Song" albums, as well as issues about indigenous cultures and rights.
The project is also set to perform at Procida in May, during the opening ceremony of the island's celebration as "Italy's Capital of Culture for 2022."
"Small Island Big Song" was launched in 2015 by Taiwanese Baobao Chen (???) and Australian music producer Tim Cole after the duo found out that one of the lands Austronesian people originated from was none other than Taiwan.
With an aim of spotlighting Taiwan's ties to other Austronesian cultures and the threats the cultures face in climate change, the project was created to foster such awareness around the world through artistic projects in film and music.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel